South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and institutions and companies in relation with energy storage system (ESS) launched a joint cooperative platform dubbed ESS Convergence Alliance on Monday to pave the way for electric vehicle age.

The ESS refers to a system that enables storing of electricity on a large scale for the future use. The global ESS market is expected to grow rapidly to $15 billion by 2020. The domestic ESS market was estimated to be worth 150 billion won ($133 million) in July this year, and is expected to grow to 300 billion won by the end of the year.

The ESS Alliance was launched to accelerate progress in the private sector in the area largely led by the public sector. The group is formed by a range of both big and small companies and institutions including parts manufacturers, service providers, financial institutions, Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), power plant operators, industrial complex and research centers.

The alliance is comprised of four divisions specializing in convergence, global operation, technology development and standardization. The departments will hold monthly meetings to discuss ways to develop new ESS convergence models and ESS-related financial services, and to improve relevant policies, enhance cooperation among the parties and promote joint overseas operation of big and small companies.

The government pledged to increase its support to nurture the industry as the country’s new growth engine.

It also plans to allow private sector to participate in the stored energy selling business, which is currently limited to public sector, in order to raise efficiency as the permission would enable setting up a large scale system at one place to provide energy to near facilities without having to install the system separately.

By Seo Dong-cheol

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]